Intelligent CXO Issue 26 | Page 30

FEATURE the situation – however , they cannot afford to simply allow the situation to continue . This is not an option . employers have the opportunity to ‘ quietly hire ’, train up employees and refresh existing skills sets , Myburgh continued .
“ In today ’ s economy the margin for error is so small , with competition for business and resources so fierce that no company can afford to lose the competitive advantage that a motivated , focused labour force represents . Many business decision-makers are aware of the need to make up for lost time and lost business , and ‘ dig deep ’ to ensure they are still relevant to customers and vastly different markets .”
Quiet hiring
But there is opportunity in every adversity and in as much as employees can ‘ quietly quit ’,
Quiet hiring is when a company acquires new skills without formally recruiting a full time employee .
This can be done in various ways , Myburgh explained , including by giving existing employees more responsibilities or widening their job scope / description and / or outsourcing to contractors .
Ben Wigert , Director of Research and Strategy for Workplace Management at Gallup , said that forcing employees to come to the office under threat of discipline leads to disengagement , fear and distrust .
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